In a column for Glamour magazine, Maggie Gyllenhaal reveals herself to be not only an actress and a mother but a veritable badass, voicing her ardent support for Planned Parenthood — as well as her anger and disappointment with politicians working to restrict women's health services: "I find it incredibly frustrating that we're being forced to spend so much time and energy (and, yes, money) defending something as basic as self-determination." Yep.

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Gyllenhaal points out that more than 80 abortion restrictions were enacted in 2011 — more than double the previous record, in 2005. She calls out both Rick Perry and Chris Christie, scolding them for cutting funding that would have helped poor people get cervical cancer screenings, birth control, Pap smears and STD prevention.

And she writes:

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I find these restrictions dismaying because they disproportionately target women with lower incomes. Wealthy women will always be able to access the health care they need. Planned Parenthood is there for every woman. This is an organization that works in communities to provide high-quality care like cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, HIV tests and birth control-often to women who would otherwise go without. It is the place you call if you are 16 and don't know whom to ask about birth control. It's the website that has answers in the middle of the night. It's the health care resource that offers compassion and respect to women at times when they are incredibly vulnerable and afraid.

Gyllenhaal, who is pregnant for the second time, also states, "I believe very strongly is that every woman has the right to decide what she can do with her body," and concludes that in the future, she hopes "we'll be celebrating our freedoms and rights, not fighting for them once again as we are now."

The politicians she namechecks will probably dismiss the opinion piece as Hollywood liberal crapola, but it's hard not to cheer when celebrities use their fame to champion something besides a diet pill.